BUFFALO, N.Y. — The date of May 15 has loomed large for people to focus on as a possible time of loosening of regulations from the pandemic, but it now appears that it's more of a reassessment date for the state here in our area.
New York State Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul says a control group of county and local officials, hospitals, businesses, and unions are carefully monitoring the virus situation.
While she says there's progress, we still have a ways to go in certain areas. 2 On Your Side asked her Sunday if she could give some realistic idea on when we could see a reopening.
"There's nothing that I would like to give more than certainty. It's how I'm hard-wired as an elected official, to give you definite answers, but we're dealing with something that has eluded us for a long time," Hochul said. "We've never been able to calculate with any real precision what this virus is going to do.
"We don't know the rate of spread until we can tell whether a lot of people are going to gather with their family members today, and despite our warnings of wearing masks, we don't know that there won't be an increase in three days because of what happens on Mother's Day, for example. It's out of our control."
What about businesses reopening going forward? Again, some progress.
"There have been people in some of the essential manufacturing, some of the essential construction, and they are taking precautions that we'll simply be asking the next wave of businesses to adhere to," she said.
"So they're not burdensome. They're very much common sense, and they've done it successfully."
This reopening would happen in phases with manufacturing, construction, and curbside retail first.
For example, we would not see full scale dining restaurants right away. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to release more information later this week.